When Jamie Murphy first heard about the “Parent Project,” a way for helping young people by first helping their parents, he knew he wanted to be a part of it.
Jamie Murphy was recognized at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention for his work with parents of at-risk teens.He learned about the program in 2003 while attending a training session in Jacksonville, Fla. Since then, he has instituted the program at Immanuel Baptist Church in North Augusta, where he joined the staff as minister of outreach and families in 2007.
In November, at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, Murphy was recognized by SCBC president Rudy Gray for the positive impact of both his and his church’s work and Christian witness through the Parent Project.
Instead of trying to change the child, the program seeks to educate parents in ways to help them become better parents. The goal is to teach parents effective methods to help their children make wise choices and refrain from destructive behavior.
Through specialized seminars, parents learn prevention and intervention strategies for coping with their children’s negative behavior, including drug and alcohol use, gang activities, and poor school attendance and performance.
Murphy teaches the 10-week program to parents. He is group facilitator for the sessions, held at Immanuel Baptist Church and the Aiken Department of Public Safety. Immanuel Baptist holds sessions of the Parent Project on Wednesday evenings. An average of 12-13 people attend each class.
Murphy facilitates the classes with the help of an assistant. Church members mingle with the visitors during mealtime. Murphy said church members are able to show the love of Christ to the visiting parents by taking the time to get to know them. Some church members also attend the classes in order to build relationships with the parents and families.
“We’ve been able to minister to more than 300 people in the past two and a half years,” Murphy said. “The Parent Project has given us more opportunities to minister to people of a different socioeconomic background. We see people from all social classes, and we try to reach them with the same gospel.”
Those attending the Parent Project also learn strategies to help their teens carry on family values, enjoy closer family relationships, improve school performance, stay sober and make successful choices. The program has proven to work and teaches concepts accepted by the departments of social services and juvenile justice. “We’ve got families where the kids have radically changed,” Murphy said.
In an article that appeared in North Augusta Today, parents spoke about the ways the Parent Project has helped their families. A local sheriff who worked with Murphy in Florida also attests to the proven methods of the program; he recalled the story of a single mother and her son who had been arrested but made great strides in their relationship after the mother attended the Parent Project.
Murphy would like to see other churches across the state become involved with the Parent Project. Interested pastors can contact Murphy at 803-279-4191.